Frayed Knot

Ceetar wrote: Apparently this wasn't true. Don't ruin a good story with over-verification. More painful? -- Getting bitten by a Scorpion, or having to listen to The Scorpions?

I have no idea how to build a championship team. After years of thinking I'd make a great GM, I'm happy to admit I'm clueless. I look at the lineup of both teams and I think there is not a chance that these guys are playing in the Fall Classic. Toronto? Sure. The Dodgers? Absolutely. Detroit? Yes. Boston and St. Louis? I would have said they'd contend but not make the playoffs. I was actually going to start a thread yesterday saying how there may be nothing less useful at this time of year than columnists penning articles that say: [Local Team] should follow the [World Series participant's] blueprint for building a championship. (and yeah, I'm looking at you Bill Madden - as well as others) Y'know what the best formula for building a championship is? ... Have all the shit you did go right for you at the same time and have as few injuries as possible. Once you master that "skill" you'll get more after-the-fact praise than you know what to do with and your "method" will be declared the new trend. Not that I'm trying to say it's all luck or anything, or that do-do moves should only be criticized in hindsight. But it's amazing how smart one can look when your manager can run the same lineup out there almost every night and role players suddenly emerge in exactly the right spot and exactly the right time.

Zvon wrote: I'm not a fan of sliding into first unless for show ... But in this instance I think it was a heads up thing to do. I was surprised to see Victorino throw it, surprised to see Freese slide, and surprised that they called it right. In that case it was the LEAST heads-up thing to do. With the throw coming from that angle there's ZERO chance of a tag play meaning there's even less reason to slide than in most plays at 1st where the slide is (almost) always a bad idea in the first place. Wouldn't have bothered me if the ump thumbed him out just for being stupid. It was Bang-Bang anyway. I've always wanted to see a 9-3 putout, and Freese almost gave me my wish. I can't remember if I've even seen it before on a position player. More than a few pitchers wind up victims because the RF often plays so shallow. What would REALLY be cool would be to see a CF or LF pull it off. I did it one time from LF in a softball game (man was that guy embarrassed!) but somehow that doesn't seem quite like the same thing.

Mets � Willets Point wrote: G-Fafif wrote: Due respect to Boswell, I find these sorts of pieces a depressing reminder that baseball's grip on the national imagination ain't what it used to be. You don't see similar columns urging you to check out the ol' Super Bowl. That's because they're too busy writing about what commercials to look forward to seeing. At least World Series coverage is still about the game and not about The Show. Plus, if you've ever read the Washington Post, you'll understand that if Boswell doesn't call attention to the WS then certainly nobody else will. Spring time in DC is noted by the arrival of the cherry blossoms and by the Post sports section cutting back to only 80% Redskins coverage.

Ashie62 wrote: This makes zero sense to me Me either. I can't remember the last time the Cleveland Spiders signed a big name free agent.

BoSox look to be on their way to their 9th consecutive WS game win following their sweeps in 2004 & 2007. And with the exception of a three-inning span in game 2 of 2007 when they were briefly behind the Rockies 1-0 (a Todd Helton ground-out knocked in Matt Holliday in the 1st inning) you have to go back to a certain HR by Ray Knight to find the last time they even trailed a WS game.

My TITANIC experience was--'ruined' is probably too strong a word so let's just say 'diminished'--by the presence of a child a row in back of me constantly asking her mother about the whereabouts of Jack & Rose each time (the few times) they weren't on the screen. Picking up bits of the conversation between the mothers of these kids I pieced together that the kids had learned all about the Titanic story in school, except that they weren't taught the actual story but rather the fictional one as played out by Kate & Leo. The lesson, in other words, seemed designed mainly to prep them for the flick. It got me wondering whether this was one of those cases where the movie studio sent out their product to schools as "educational material" for lazy educators to pick up and use to teach pseudo history. Oliver Stone's 'JFK' was a popular one for that purpose around the time of its release. Spike Lee, if I recall, simply encouraged students to cut school in order to see his Malcolm X project. Anyway, not sure if it was studio-induced in this case but it was apparent that, to this little girl, she "learned" before ever entering the theatre that the story of the Titanic was strictly a two-person affair.

metsguyinmichigan wrote: Word in Michigan is that the Tigers are expected to stay in house to replace Leyland -- LLoyd McClendon is the name heard the most. But Tom Brookens gets mentioned a bunch, too. You wonder if they'll go short-term with the idea that hometown hero and Michigan native Kirk Gibson could be free from the Arizona desert in a year (although there are options for 2015 & 16) or even if they quietly inquired about prying him loose now.

Dodger brass is making things tough on Mattingly by apparently axing several coaches and assistants who were considered to be "his guys". And in a press conference yesterday Mattingly made it clear that he was happy with the way things were run this year. Sounds like each side is playing a game of chicken. - Will the Dodgers, now that they've swatted him down a peg or two, offer him an extension? - or do they pick up his option and keep him in more of a lame duck status than he was this past year despite the improving record each year he's been there? - and will Mattingly decide to leave without a sign of more backing from upstairs - especially now several other jobs are open? I had totally missed the fact that he's been there three seasons already. One or two sounded right to me.

No, it's the team psychiatrist who has the title of ValdeSpin doctor. We're gonna get your mind right, boy.

Now the Dodgers have shelled out $28mil for 26 y/o Cuban SS (expected to move to 2B) - Alexander Guerrero. Their over-the-top offer for the then under-the-radar Puig worked out great for them (at least in the short run) even with his run 'til they tag you style of play. I hadn't heard anything on this guy leading up to this signing. Could be that they've got themselves a nice pipeline, or could be that they're full of themselves with the Puig jackpot and are under the mistaken impression that all multi-million dollar deals for Castro-escapees are destined to work just as well. If nothing else, this could signal the Dodgers as a non-participant in the Cano sweepstakes. BA: Guerrero, 26, was one of the top performers in Serie Nacional, Cuba�s top league, while playing for Las Tunas. In his final season in Cuba in 2011-12, Guerrero hit .290/.402/.576 with 21 homers, 39 walks and 30 strikeouts in 328 plate appearances. At 5-foot-10, 200 pounds, the righthanded-hitting Guerrero has been one of the top offensive players in the league for the last five seasons and has plus raw power, although scouts have questions about whether the power will translate. Those highest on Guerrero see him as a power-hitting second baseman, while others question whether his hitting will play against major league pitching. Guerrero was never a stolen base threat in Cuba, but he has revamped his body since arriving in the Dominican Republic, increasing his speed and his power. Several teams saw him as a fringe-level big leaguer.

DUH, Jeter!

Under the right conditions, I've picked up the various clear-channel 50K watt NYC stations from Maine to N Carolina. Indeed the whole purpose of clear channel stations is that there should be no interference from other locations on the same frequency and AM signals, being pretty much omni-directional and NOT line of sight (they bounce off certain atmospheric layers rather than go through them like FM), tend to travel much better. Generally if you can get the other NYC AM 50K stations (660, 770, 880, 1010) you should get this one. Maybe there's some odd sort of local interference screwing up 710 although I can't imagine what that would be. But the larger point is that if there are local conditions preventing you from getting the AM signal then the FM, which IS line of sight and therefore subject to hills, man-made barriers, or just plain curvature of the earth, would probably be worse, although FM reception can be made better if attached to a rooftop antenna. Anyway, it doesn't sound like they're going to simulcast on FM as they probably see it as robbing from one of their other audiences in order to double-cast the baseball.

TEAM MANAGERSIGNED THRUSTATUSMETSTerry Collins2013New two-year deal thru 2015 + optionBRAVESFredi Gonzalez2013Has 2014 OptionPHILLIESRyne SandbergInterimGiven permanent job thru 2016NATIONALSDavey Johnson2013Will not returnMARLINSMike Redmond2015CARDINALSMike Matheny2013Has option for 2014PIRATESClint Hurdle2014 CUBSDale Sveum2014Fired - Sept '13REDSDusty Baker2014Fired one year into a two-year extensionBREWERSRon Roenicke2014DODGERS Don Mattingly2013Has option for 2014GIANTS Bruce Bochy2016PADRES Bud Black2013Has options for 2014 & 15DBACKSKirk Gibson2014ROCKIESWalt Weiss2013RED SOXJohn Farrell2016YANKEESJoe Girardi2013Re-signed thru 2017ORIOLESBuck Showalter2018BLUE JAYSJohn Gibbons2014RAYSJoe Maddon2015TIGERSJim Leyland2013Will not returnINDIANSTerry Francona2016ROYALSNed Yost2013TWINSRon Gardenhire2013Extended thru 2015WHITE SOXRobin Ventura2014ANGELSMike Scioscia2018RANGERSRon Washington2014MARINERSEric Wedge2013Will not returnASTROSBo Porter2013ATHLETICSBob Melvin2016

Phil Mushnick says (via NY radio historian David Halberstam - no relation to the late author) that Mets games broadcast over WOR next year will be the first baseball on WOR since Game 7 of the 1956 Yankees-Dodgers World Series.

Whichever way it turns out, these two teams will have combined win five of the last ten WS: 2004, 2006, 2007, 2011, 2013

Currently somewhere in Spain unless his plans changed.

C'mon Timmy. Uehara's been in this country for five years now, he's got to speak SOME English.

Zvon wrote: His bases juices post stats are freakin unreal. Victorino: 6 post-season ABs w/bases loaded -- 2 Grand Slams Jeter: 251 career ABs w/bases loaded -- 1 Grand Slam

According to my year-long, one-inning save study, a closer with a three run lead has better than a 97% chance of closing out the game. And that's just a generic stat. Throw in the fact that Boston has a hotter-than-hot closer coming in to face the bottom of a fairly cold lineup and I think it's safe to say that things are looking even better than that for the Red Sox.

The entire Cardinals team just tweeted that they disapprove of Victorino's post-HR antics.

And now the 2nd error of the post-season by Igleseas

Detroit is Earl Weaver's dream. Starting pitching and three-run-homer potential everywhere you look... and not much else. Some of Earl's teams had great collections of gloves though. These current Tigers, not so much.

Cabrera slowed Cabrera down a lot too. Not a lot of speed, athleticism, or defense on Detroit outside of Jackson (who can't get on right now), Toriiii (who's, what, 38?), and their new SS (whose hitting is still a question mark).

Pitching duel of the slow Sox-Tigers variety. Buchholz waits longer between pitches than Dice K. Buchholz took 15 minutes to deliver the first 22 pitches of the game (yeah, I timed it). It's too depressing to do the math on that one for a per/pitch rate. Not that some of the batters aren't at least partially responsible for that pace, but most of that was on the pitcher. That foul call replay thing took too long. Wasn't even close. Despite all the promises and projections about time limits when replay rules are introduced, the reviews never go as quickly as in the plans.